Defining the Contours of a Participatory Action Research Counterspace Developed by, for, and about Black Women in Higher Education

Abstract

Although critical participatory action research (CPAR) has been cited as a means to cultivate more equitable systems in education, its promise has not been fully realized as a mechanism to enhance the experiences of minoritized cultural groups in U.S. higher education. As outsiders within academia who are multiplicatively marginalized, Black women’s engagement in CPAR demonstrates unique potential to address this gap. In this paper, I introduce an agentic diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging strategy embedded in a critical action research methodology known as a participatory action research counterspace (PARC). After situating the proposed methodology in existing literature, I describe a PARC study involving a group of Black women students, faculty, staff, and administrators at a predominantly white institution (PWI), as well as the defining contours of the methodology. A discussion outlining the benefits of the PARC methodology for Black women enrolled and employed in higher education is also included.

Keywords:

• Black women
• action research
• counterspaces
• black feminist thought
• intersectionality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by an internal university grant from Missouri State University.

Notes on contributors

Nicole M. West

Nicole M. West is an Associate Professor in the Student Affairs in Higher Education program at Missouri State University. As a Black feminist scholar-pracademic, her research focuses on enhancing the experiences of Black women enrolled and employed in higher education via critical cultural theories, research methods, and praxes.